The Dictionary Project

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The Dictionary Project

The Dictionary Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

The goal of this program is to assist all students in becoming good writers, active readers and resourceful learners by providing them with their own personal dictionaries.

08/29/2026

Today's Word of the Day: Foible

The Old French noun foible referred to the upper third of a fencing blade, the weakest part of the sword.

Upon entering English in the 1600s, foible's meaning broadened to represent any kind of weakness. Eventually, the meaning narrowed, gaining its modern connotation: human weakness, a flaw of character.

Foible has another ancestor, the Old French adjective feble, which means "physically weak." Because of this, foible is the linguistic cousin of the word feeble.

08/28/2026

Today's Word of the Day: Requisite

Dayton Tennessee Rotary Club recognizes that literacy is a requisite for a successful, productive life.

That's why these Rotarians have been delivering dictionaries to local third-graders for more than a decade.

This past year alone, they handed out 392 dictionaries across six schools: Rhea Central Elementary, Dayton City School, Spring City Elementary, Frazier Elementary, Graysville Elementary, and Rhea County Academy.

The project was started by Dallas Smith, a recipient of Rotary's Lifetime Achievement Award, and later led by Rotary Past President H. Brock Harris following Smith's passing. Today, Rotarians Kellie Anderson and Ashleigh Clark carry it on as co-chairs.

"Providing these dictionaries is about more than just giving students a book," said Co-Chair Kellie Anderson. "It is about fostering a lifelong love of learning and promoting literacy across our entire community."

08/27/2026

Today's Word of the Day: Prescient

Prescient comes from the Latin verb praescīscere, which combines the prefix prae-, meaning "before," the root scī-, meaning "to know," and the suffix -scere, meaning "to begin." Taken together, it means "to foresee," or "to know in advance."

Prescient entered the English language in the 1500s.

Like its Latin precursor, the word originally referred to the mystical ability to see the future. These days, it's typically used more figuratively, to describe someone wise enough to anticipate what's coming.

08/26/2026

Today's Word of the Day: Never

Few have championed literacy as fiercely as American philanthropist and country music superstar Dolly Parton, who died yesterday at the age of 80.

Her father never learned to read. In Parton's own words, "He was the smartest man I have ever known, but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams." To give children the opportunities her father lacked, she founded The Imagination Library, a charity that delivers one free book each month to more than three million children worldwide.

Dolly leaves behind a legacy of generosity, creativity and compassion that will never be forgotten.

08/25/2026

Today's Word of the Day: Mosaic

The word mosaic comes from the Latin noun musaicum, which means "the work of the muses".

The muse connection isn't just because mosaics are a kind of art. The Romans built garden shrines called musaea, which were dedicated to the muses, the goddess of artistic inspiration.

These shrines were often decorated with mosaics, and over time the word for the shrines came to describe the art form itself.

08/24/2026

Today's Word of the Day: Sincere

This card came from the third graders of Grand Island Central Catholic Elementary, in Nebraska. It's a sincere reminder of the impact dictionaries can have on communities, classrooms, and individual students.

08/22/2026

Today's Word of the Day: Glamour

Glamour is a Scottish variant of the word grammar.

Grammar’s definition was once more broad; it referred to all scholarship. In the middle ages, academic study was done only in Latin, and only by a privileged few. This secrecy made it seem both mysterious and magical to the general public.

The association between learning, Latin, and magic gave rise to glamour as a word for magical illusion itself.

Although fiction still occasionally uses that original sense, in the modern era glamour more often describes the alluring pull of beauty, charisma, and fame.

08/21/2026

Today's Word of the Day: Imprint

This past fall, Flambeau River Rotary Park Falls, WI delivered dictionaries to every third grade student at Butternut Elementary and Park Falls Elementary.

A dictionary is more than just a book; it's a tool that helps imprint a love of literacy on the minds of students.

It opens the door to the wonders of the English language, helping third-grades build reading confidence and become independent learners.

08/20/2026

Today's Word of the Day: Genial

Although pleasantness and intelligence may not seem like related concepts, genial and genius share a root.

The Latin noun genius referred to a guardian spirit believed to watch over a person, tied closely to their vitality and personality. Genial comes from the Latin adjective genialis, which combines genius and the suffix -alis, which means "pertaining to."

For the Romans, genialis was related to marriage and festivals, since indulging one's genius was thought to call for feasting and celebration.

This association with celebration and matrimony has faded, but the sense of pleasantness remains, softened over time into the warmth and good humor we associate with the word today.

08/19/2026

Today's Word of the Day: Aviation

Today, August 19th, is Aviation Day, a holiday established in 1939 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

It falls on the birthday of Orville Wright. Orville and his brother Wilbur were mechanics in Ohio who honed their skills manufacturing and repairing bicycles, motors, and printing presses. Inspired by the flight of birds and intrigued by the possibility of human flight, they spent years studying gliders and experimenting with flying machines before achieving the first successful flight of an engine-driven airplane in 1903.

The word predates the airplane. It was coined by the French writer and aeronautics pioneer Guillaume Joseph Gabriel de La Landelle in 1863. He combined the Latin word avis, meaning “bird,” with the suffix -ation, which indicates an action or process.

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PO Box 180159
Coronado, CA
92178

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+18438562706

Website

http://www.dictionaryproject.org/

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